~ Reflections of a pastor…

Book Buying

I woke up today to find the Aussie dollar sitting at 92 US cents. In the words of Thomas the Tank Engine, “This is a disaster!” It was only a few weeks ago that it was $1.05 against the US Dollar. As I looked at books on Amazon this morning I noticed a sharp increase in the price of books already (when currency was converted). Since the US dollar has been weaker against the Aussie dollar I have invested heavily in my pastoral library. I now own all the major commentary sets in Logos as well as many, many individual books for my physical library). These have truly been glorious days!

However, it seems this season may be coming to end. Despite my disappointment I have to be honest and admit this is a good thing. Many exporters in this country are doing it tough and more than a few book shops have gone out of business. Sadly, I have been able to purchase books delivered to my door from around the globe at around half the price of what I can get them from local bookstores. Books in this country are ridiculously expensive. Even more so with the dollar being so strong.

One way around this expense is to buy e-books. They are usually cheaper and have no shipping costs. Although I don’t mind reading from a screen nothing beats the feel of a book. I also find I forget what i won on my Kindle. But hey, its about reading books and gaining knowledge, not having books. At present I am looking to buy ‘Evangelical Faith and the Challenge of Historical Criticism‘ but I’m trying to decide between $15 for the Kindle version or $27 for the book. At that price difference it is hard to pay the extra $12 especially when I could spend that money on another book! :)

What do you think?

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4 thoughts on “Book Buying”

I was a bookseller, still, I can’t say I’m too encouraged by the drop either. Too many wishlist items yet to purchase. I like logos – no I love it – However, I some of the books on Logos (unless on sale – or using their layby payment plan) are almost as high as some of the physical copies you can purchase via ”book depository’, without being charged for postage. Thanks for the heads-up on this.

About Mark Stevens

Mark is pastor of the Happy Valley Church of Christ in Adelaide, South Australia. He holds a Master of Ministry from Tabor College Adelaide. The Parson's Patch is a collection of musings on the pastoral vocation, coffee (humour), gardening and other topics of interest! Mark reviews books for Zondervan, IVP, Kregel Academic and Logos Bible Software.

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"I am happy to commend Mark Stevens' fine blog which provides resources and discussion on a panoply of things crucial to Christian ministry in the 21rst century. But quite apart from the resources, Mark evinces a mind for what really matters when it comes to the serious study of God's Word--- highly recommended. "